Waste – Reducing volume to meet new land spreading regulations
New regulations, due to be enforced this year will seriously affect companies' ability to dispose of liquid waste to land and increase the costs associated with doing so. Here, Ray Wild of GEA Westfalia Separator, looks at the problem and provides a mechanical solution.
Proposals for amendments to the Waste Management Licensing Regulations are to be implemented and in force from 1st April 2004. The regulations are a result of strategic review on organic waste spread to agricultural land together with requirements and demand for compliance with classifications under the Waste Framework Directive.
Exemptions under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations have controlled some industrial waste activities. Others, however, are exploited as some industrial wastes have been spread to land in the guise of "benefit to agricultural land" offering a low cost option to industry. In this way major volumes of wastes have escaped both control and the landfill tax scheme.
DEFRA have had final consultations and the legislation, which is almost five years overdue, will hit the statute books in April this year and further restrict waste to land activities by placing further constraints on producers. Restrictions on volumes to agricultural land and requirements for analysis and assessment of the waste prior to spreading will mean increased costs for both the operator and waste producer.
The regulations will control the specialist land spreading contractors and farmers, and will also affect producers from all industrial sectors but primarily those involved in abattoirs, poultry preparation, dairy products, brewing, paper manufacture, food processing and tanneries. Land spreading activity in the England & Wales currently involves over 2,600 farms. To appreciate the scale of industrial waste to land the paper manufacturing and recycling industry produces 520,000 tonnes of paper waste sludge with others such as vegetable and food waste producing around 70,000 tonnes per year.
Introducing legislation usually means increased cost to industry and while the benefits for the environment are worthwhile, additional costs imposed on industry have implications for all.
The new regulations will re-name the exemption "land spreading" and introduce the term "land treatment". Licences will be issued to those operators whose activities result in benefit to agriculture or ecological improvement.
The over application of nutrients, which can cause environmental pollution, will be further controlled by a reduction in the annual limit of land treatment activities from 250 to 100 tonnes per hectare.
Assessment of the "land treatment" activity to determine benefit to land will involve meeting certain criteria before a registration can be issued by the Environment Agency. Information, including an detailed analysis of the material, will also be required to determine suitability expressed in terms of percentage dry solids, pH, conductivity, content of major nutrients, available ammonium nitrogen and biochemical oxygen amount.
Land spreading of liquid wastes is currently a cheap option, however the incentive to reduce waste volumes to land will be a major force. It is easy to predict that with more constraints and the need for the payment of registration fees will increase the cost per tonne relative to the operational costs incurred.
Westfalia Separator is at the forefront of environmental dewatering technology and offers equipment to match the challenge of reducing the volume and, therefore, the cost of disposal. The additional benefit of recovered water reuse, is appropriate to some manufacturers.
Westfalia decanter centrifuges have been designed specifically for this type of environmental activity. They are continuously-operating, horizontal-scroll type centrifuges with a twin motor drive. This permits torque-dependant control of the differential speed allowing the machine to react to the changing density of the feed by adjusting the power settings automatically so that a consistent separation quality is maintained regardless of feed variance. Decanters for this type of duty range from the AD0509 with a throughput range of 5-9 cubic meters per hour, to the new UCD536 providing a throughput of up to 55 cubic meters per hour. Even larger decanters are available from Westfalia if the duty requires.
Westfalia offer competitive pricing for the level of technology while operating costs are complemented by low energy usage and parts requirements due to the latest design improvements in centrifugation.
There can be no doubt that this year's changes will increase disposal costs and the associated cost of analysis. In future it will be essential for companies to reduce the volume of waste for disposal and re-use produced water within the process if they are to remain competitive. Westfalia treatment systems provide that competitive edge and allow customers to comply with the waste disposal regulations now and in the future.
